Improved skate-fastening



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AND THOMAS ELLIOTT, OF SAME PLACE.

nvuaovi-:Dv SKATE-FASTENING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,211, dated October 6, 1863.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JAMES HEWETT, of Clinton, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Skate-Fastening; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side sectional view ot' my invention, taken in the line a: Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the same; Fig. 3, a perspective view of the same in an open state.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

This invention consists in a clamp for securing the skate to the heel of the boot or shoe,- the parts being so arranged that the skate, in heilig adjusted or secured to the boot or shoe, is made to serve as a lever, so as to render the adjustment extremely easy, the clamp at the same time firmly securing the skate to the heel, and in such a manner as to cause the heel to be grasped rmer as it is raised up from the ice in skating, and at the same time tendency to prevent the skate moving laterally before the toe-strap is fastened over the front part of the boot or shoe.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a wire or rod, which is bent or curved in bow form, and passes through a lug or projection, a, on a strap, B, which is screwed to the back end of the stock or footstand of the skate.

O represents a heel-bearing, which is provided With an ear or lug, b, at each end, between which the projection a is ttted, and through which and the ears b b a pin, c, passes. This heel-bearing is allowed to work freely on the pin c, and its front part, d, which is the part that connects the ears b b, is pro vided with spurs or plates e, to catch into the back ot' the heel of the boot or shoe. The lower end of the heel-bearing is provided With a projecting plate, f, which, when the skate is adjusted to the boot or shoe, tits 1n a recess, g,

in the strap B. The ends ofthe Wire or rod A have screw-threads h cut on them, on each of which a bar, i, is screwed. These bars M lap over each other at their inner ends, and are connected by a screw, 7', which passes through an oblong slot, 7c, in one of the bars and into a female screw-thread in the other bar. The bars i i are adjusted on the wire or rod A, so that the heel ot' the boot or shoe maytit properly within the wire or rod A, the bars "i z' being at the front side ofthe heel, as shown in Fig. l.

In adjusting the skate to the heel of the boot or shoe the skate hangs in about a vertical position, and the heel is inserted Within the Wire or rod A, the back part of the heel being in contact With the bearing D and resting ou the projecting plate f. The skate is then turned upward in contact with the sole of the boot or shoe, and the heel is clamped firmly between the barst' i and the bearing D. The inner sides of the bars i are corrugated, as shown at i', to prevent them from slipping'. This invention may be applied at a small cost to the ordinary skates in use, and it iirnily connects the back part of the skate to the boot or shoe, and possesses the advantage of being readily applied to the heel of the boot or shoe and causing the heelto be clamped the rmer or more strongly as it is raised from the ice, thereby obviating the difliculty, frequent in other t'astenings, of the heel becoming loose from that cause.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The curved Wire or rod A, tted in the lug or projection a of the strap B, in combination with the swinging heel-bearing D, attached to the lug or projection af, and the bars t' i, fitted on the ends of the wire or rod A, all being arranged substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

JAMES HEWETT. 

